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Earlier this year the European Union ruled that mobile phone operators must reduce the “exorbitant” amounts they charge customers to use their phones while abroad.

Neelie Kroes, the EU Commissioner in charge of digital affairs, said mobile data roaming costs should be capped at eu50. It comes after a number of horror stories of customers charged huge amounts for access the internet abroad.

In 2008 a 46-year-old lawyer ran up a £4,900 bill after she watched an episode of The Apprentice via the BBC’s iPlayer while in France.

Vittorio Colao, chief executive, said: “This is the year of the smartphone and we want our 35m European data users to feel free to use their devices in Europe in the same way as they do at home.

"We expect smartphone sales in Europe to grow from 32 per cent today to more than 70 per cent by 2013, and we want to drive that growth with what we believe to be the best value, market-leading roaming data packages.”

Analysts at Execution Noble said the fear of huge bills, known in the industry as “bill shock”, has acted as a “barrier” preventing customers from buying smartphones, such as Apple’s iPhone.

“Vodafone must have seen the same thing because it is lowering mobile data roaming charges, giving customers more certainty over pricing when they travel. Cynics will see its €2.00 per day cap as a price cut, but we take the opposite view - this is price leadership of exactly the style that we want to see from Vodafone and the rest of the operators,” Execution analysts said in a note.